History Characters / Gladiator

A Roman general who Commodus betrayed for refusing to serve him. Commodus also had his family killed, and he ended up sold as a slave. Then Proximo bought him, had him train as a gladiator, and his exploits in the arenas of North Africa brought him to Rome.

!!Marcus Aurelius

** The reason he arranged the fight itself in the first place is the result of a more protracted example, since simply ''killing'' Maximus (and henceforth turning him into a martyr) would overshadow Commudus' reputation in the public eye and dent his already brittle and unstable ego - so the plan he devises in order to try and prevent this is to "kill the gladiator's name" before Maximus could be executed. However, multiple failed attempts to thwart Maximus' street credibility along with his own faltering efforts at competing with his own self-promotional propaganda provokes him to take bolder and more reckless actions (along with increasingly volatile meltdowns whenever these fail to make any difference) to change the tide of opinion, finally culminating in him challenging the far more experienced Maximus to a personal duel to the death (although he does have the foresight to try and discreetly rig the odds of the fight in his favour beforehand.)

** The reason he arranged the fight itself in the first place is the result of a more protracted example, since simply ''killing'' Maximus (and henceforth turning him into a martyr) would overshadow Commudus' reputation in the public eye and dent his already brittle and unstable ego - so the plan he devises in order to try and prevent this is to "kill the gladiator's name" before Maximus could be executed. However, multiple attempts to thwart Maximus' street credibility and his own faltering attempts at competing with his own PR stunts provoke him to make bolder and more reckless attempts (along with increasingly volatile meltdowns whenever these fail to make any difference) to change the tide of opinion, finally culminating in him challenging the far more experienced Maximus to a personal duel to the death (although he does have the foresight to try and discreetly rig the odds of the fight in his favour beforehand.)

** The reason he arranged the fight itself in the first place is the result of a more protracted example, since simply 'killing' Maximus (and henceforth turning him into a martyr) would overshadow his reputation in popularity and dent his already brittle and unstable ego - so the plan he devises in order to try and prevent this is to "kill the gladiator's name" before Maximus could be executed. However, multiple attempts to thwart Maximus' street credibility and his own faltering attempts at competing with his own PR stunts provoke him to make bolder and more reckless attempts along with (increasingly volatile meltdowns whenever these fail to make any difference) to change the tide of opinion, finally culminating in him challenging the far more experienced Maximus to a personal duel to the death (although he does have the foresight to try and discreetly rig the odds of the fight in his favour beforehand.)

* VillainHasAPoint: He makes fairs points early on that the people of Rome don't care about the Senate or the war with barbarians, they only want to see "the greatness of Rome." Unfortunately, he uses that to propel the gladiator games and distract them from his tyranny.

!!!'''Dubbed by:'''[[note]]Pilar Escandón (Latin American Spanish), Creator/YokoSoumi (Japanese, home video dub), Creatror/YukoSasaki (Japanese, TV Asahi dub)[[/note]]

!!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/MarcAlfos (European French), Creator/SalvadorDelgado (Latin American Spanish)

!!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/BrunoChoel (European French), Creator/JoseGilbertoVilchis (Latin American Spanish)

!!!'''Dubbed by:''' Pilar Escandón (Latin American Spanish)

!!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/CesarArias (Latin American Spanish), Creator/MarcCassot (European French)

!!!'''Dubbed by:''' Creator/MiguelAngelGhigliazza (Latin American Spanish)

!!!'''Played by:''' Spencer Treat Clark

* DropTheHammer: Between this and CarryABigStick. In combat, he wields what appears to be an improvised war hammer consisting of a wood branch with a stone attached to its end.

* HateSink: He is a depraved scumbag with no redeemable qualities.

* TheGoodKing: An aging Emperor that years of battle taught him that a big Empire was nothing worth for and seeked to bring back the nation to the people.

* ThePhilosopherKing: One of the main historical proponents of Stoicism. Maximus says a few of his own real-life quotes and his writings are still used today.

-->'''Maximus:''' Are you in danger of becoming a good man, Proximo?
-->'''Proximo:''' Hah!

* SacrificialLion: He's killed during Commodus' repression of the would-be rebellion after undergoing some character growth and developing a good relationship with the title character

* AgonyOfTheFeet: How he's finally brought down, impaled in the foot [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by his own axe]].

* TogetherInDeath: Discussed with Maximus. He plans to wait for his family in the afterlife, since he expects to die soon. And he reassures Maximus that his family will surely be waiting for him as well.

* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: The historical Commodus was a skilled archer (he liked to decapitate ostriches with arrows) but no swordsman, and only fought in battles where the opponents had to throw it. This one actually seems decent with a sword, even if he does cheat.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's the Emperor of Rome and although not as good as Maximus, he's pretty nifty with a sword.

* {{Narcissist}}: As expected by a Roman emperor of this period, Commodus is extremely self-centered, he wants to rule over the senate with an iron fist and cannot tolerate to be questioned, thinking he can make absolutely no mistakes. Just like an average narcissist, he puts his need above the ones of literally anyone else in his empire, to the point he would send people to their death just to stroke his gigantic ego.

* Narcissist: As expected by a Roman emperor of this period, Commodus is extremely self-centered, he wants to rule over the senate with an iron fist and cannot tolerate to be questioned, thinking he can make absolutely no mistakes. Just like an average narcissist, he puts his need above the ones of literally anyone else in his empire, to the point he would send people to their death just to stroke his gigantic ego.

* TheSociopath: Like a handful of emperors and other Roman noblemen of his time, Commodus is an extremely corrupt and amoral despot: he doesn't care about the lives of his soldiers or even his family, he just wants to have as much power and approval as possible, showing his extreme selfishness.
While at that, he isn't above committing literal crimes to increase his likelyhood of success as an emperor, like when he killed his very father, something that is considered irredeemable, specially in Rome. He is also not above abusing his nephew Lucius, who was his morality pet until he expressed admiration towards Maximus.

-->'''Marcus Aurelius''': Will you accept this great honor? \\

* TheLancer: To Maximus towards the beginning.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: He aids Commodus because he occupies the throne.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: A scene cut from the theatrical version shows Commodus forcing him to execute several of his own innocent soldiers, which goes a long way toward explaining his decision to turn on the Emperor in the end.

* GutturalGrowler: He has a very gravelly voice.

* DaddysGirl: Her father thinks highly of her, even bemoaning that, as a woman, he could not make her his successor as Caesar since she seems way fitter for the job than Commodus.

* BilingualBonus: If you can understand what he shouts at Maximus and his army.